MILAN — Italian Design Brands is officially a public company as of Thursday.
Shares in Italian Design Brands closed up nearly 3 percent at 11.20 euros per share on Thursday after debuting at 10.88 euros per share in the morning. The stock is traded with the ticker IDB.MI on Euronext Milan (a regulated market organized and administered by Borsa Italiana).
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Home to high-end brands such as Saba Italia, Gervasoni and Meridiani, IDB’s management was confident that the success of its IPO would accelerate its expansion plans in the near term.
“We are already working on the next acquisition and we hope to have an 11th partner before the end of the year,” IDB CEO Andrea Sasso told reporters at the opening festivities, where Sasso rang the opening bell with CEO Giorgio Gobbi.
“Thanks to the IPO we can speed up the process. This is part of our mission,” Gobbi said, explaining that when the company was founded, its management worked hard to buy a curated list of Italian brands to establish the “culture” of the group . “Phase two – after the IPO – we can start looking for brands that are synonymous with excellent design and quality craftsmanship, even outside of Italy,” Gobbi added.
Earlier this month, Tamburi Investment Partners, or TIP SpA, bought a majority stake in IDB’s parent company.
TIP, which is managed by Giovanni Tamburi, founder, chairman and CEO, has shares in Moncler, Hugo Boss, Italian retailer OVS and Eataly, among others.
Italian Design Brands targeted a market capitalization of 293 million euros and offered about 27.5 percent of its share capital. IDB sold both existing shares and new shares issued during a capital increase. The booking, which was run by joint global coordinators Citigroup and Italian investment bank Equita, was twice oversubscribed, Sasso told the audience after the market opened.
Established in 2015 by Private Equity Partners and a select group of investors through a company called Investindesign, IDB’s portfolio includes 10 companies and 13 brands, including exclusive furniture brands Saba Italia, Gervasoni and Meridiani; the lighting companies Davide Groppi, Axolight and Flexalighting in North America, as well as luxury contract companies such as Modar and Cenacchi International, which install luxury fixtures for shops, showrooms, offices, hotels and luxury homes globally.
IDB said earlier this year that the proceeds from the capital increase will be used to support the implementation of its strategic objectives, including organic growth, the financing of its M&A activity and to maintain capital expenditure and working capital.
The group recently reported that its adjusted net profit almost doubled in 2022, reaching 25.5 million euros, compared to 13.3 million euros in 2021. Sales rose 84.8 percent on a pro forma basis to 266.5 million euros . Italian Design Brands’ adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 111 percent to 49.2 million euros in 2022 with a pro-forma margin of 18.5 percent, up from 16.2 percent in 2021.
Due to market turmoil and market volatility, Italy’s IPO market has been quiet. Apollo-backed gaming group Lottomatica’s IPO earlier this month marked Italy’s biggest IPO in over a year.
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